The forests keeper, p.14
The Forest's Keeper, page 14
The ogre led them to the female who sat on a stone chair next to a phoenix cage. Rose wasn’t sure which surprised her more, the flaming red, yellow, and orange feathers of the phoenix, or the female ogre before her. She was tall, muscular, and lounged on a stone throne, licking her fingers clean off whatever poor creature she’d had for dinner. Strips of brown cloth covered her chest and pelvis and over them she wore a thick fur coat. The flames of their fire reflected in the large silver belt strapped around her waist signifying her station in their clan.
“I’d heard someone in a red cloak was wandering the forest. You’ve become quite popular,” the chief said. She extended an arm to her side where another male ogre sat upon brown cushions. “Have a seat and we’ll bring you something to eat.”
Rafe set Rose on a brown cushion as the captain clapped her hands twice. In moments, the two of them had plates of food in front of them. Rafe did not have any trouble digging in and Rose carefully picked at her meat. Maybe she could blame her injuries for her lack of an appetite. Even if it looked appealing, she had a hard time trusting what was in front of her. These ogres attacked her then kidnapped Cal, and now they welcomed her with open arms? Something wasn’t right here.
The chief sat straighter and stared at Rose with her orange eyes. “What? Our food not good enough for you?”
Rose grimaced and took a small bite. It took everything in her to not spit it right back out but chewed and swallowed as quickly as possible.
The chief chuckled darkly. “You’re braver than you look. Is your ankle truly hurt?”
Rose glanced at Rafe who only raised his eyebrows. “My ankle has trouble, yes, but not at this moment.”
The ogress’s dark black hair slid to the side as she glanced at Rose’s twisted foot. She’d shaved half her hair off and designed it with swirls and the rest was straight and spiked. “At least part of your story is true. What is your name?”
“I thought you already knew.”
The captain chuckled again. “Very well, if that’s how you’re going to be. Yes, I know who you are, granddaughter of Renata, Kutlaous’s Minister. But since you refuse to tell me your name, I’m going to call you Red, and my name is Kartek. I’m in charge of this troupe of miscreants. Enjoy your meal. We will discuss other matters later. I hate having to discuss politics over dinner. This is my belt claiming celebration after all.”
She snapped her fingers, and someone brought her a plate of something big, bloody, and foul.
“Belt claiming?”
Kartek smiled as she bit into a piece of meat, blood dripping down her chin. “I won my title a few weeks ago. We’ve been celebrating ever since.”
“How did you win it?” Rose dared to asked.
“I smashed the other chief’s head into the ground until his brain splattered across the dirt,” Kartek answered. “Then I ate it.”
Rose’s stomach turned again.
The ogres ate and drank into the night. They sang loud songs and danced around the fire, reveling in whatever victories they'd had through the day. It was sickening and entrancing at the same time. It was unlike any gathering Rose had witnessed at home. They were louder, devoured more food, and took no care for what others may see. Couples and groups of them kissed and caressed one another as though they were behind closed doors. The Cresin court was open about their relationships and who they shared beds with, but even in the most outrageous of parties they still saved some things for when they were alone.
But it was not only that. It was the necklaces of teeth around their necks. The bones they carried with them and banged together like musical instruments. The way a fight broke out, and they all watched and cheered. They’d had small brawls on the practice field with the guard, of course. But once things got out of hand, the captain quickly broke them apart. Kartek didn’t bother to stop the violence but urged it on.
Rose lowered her gaze to her plate of mostly untouched food and saw Rafe was doing the same. How long would this go on? The eating, drinking, dancing, and now fulfilling their other desires and impulses? And where was Cal? Rose wished Eira was there. She would know how to handle the situation and find a way out without making it appear they were ungrateful to their hosts. Rose could only sit there and avert her eyes. She looked toward the sky instead where Kudo was flying about. He hovered over each hut and tent, maybe to discover which one Cal was in.
At least Kartek didn’t have anyone join her at her seat and mostly observed the goings on of their clan. Kartek glanced over to Rose and Rafe and nodded. “Come join me.”
She stood, the necklace of teeth around her neck jangling and her silver belt shining and walked away from the party to a nearby tent. Another female and male followed. They must have been her second and third.
Rafe helped Rose to her feet, and she could limp over to the tent with her crutch. Her straps needed to be at full power soon.
They sectioned the inside of the tent off into three makeshift rooms divided by curtains. One curtain was left open to show three people tied to wooden pillars. Two females and one male. One female had long wavy blond hair, and a wide-brimmed hat with a purple feather sticking out of it napped peacefully in the corner. The other rose her head when they entered, her short black hair falling over her eyes. She peered out at them with narrowed lids. Her gaze met Rose’s then darted away again toward the napping woman. Rose held in a gasp. To the side Cal sat there, his head slumped down and shoulders sagged. Bruises and cuts were all over his arms and legs, but he was there alive and breathing.
Kartek sauntered over to a table on the far end of the tent and poured herself something to drink. “This is Arag,” she said, gesturing to the other two ogres with her. “Who is your companion, Red?”
Rafe bowed his head. “Rafe.”
Kartek smiled at them as though she knew what he was going to say. She leaned against the table and stared at Rose. “I have heard a young woman with a red hood has been wandering the forest helping its dwellers. Is this true? Has your grandmother taught you some of her knowledge?”
Rose weighed her options. Sharing too much could be dangerous, but if the captain needed Grandmother’s skills, perhaps it was something Rose could use to barter with.
“To an extent, yes,” she finally answered.
“Do you have her same skills?”
Rose shrugged. “I have some of them, and a few of my own as well.”
“What do you know of this sickness which is spreading through Eral? The one where they turn blue.” Kartek snapped a finger at Arag and pointed to a wooden chair. He grabbed it and brought it over to Rose’s side. Rafe guided Rose into the seat then stepped to the side. He crossed his arms in front of him and kept his yellow eyes sharp on the ogres, ready to pounce at the first sign of danger.
“Not much. The infected mushrooms have caused it from what I can tell,” Rose answered. “I don’t know of a cure.”
“But you have helped forest dwellers with it?”
Rose crossed one leg over the other, a nervous finger tapping against her knee. “A few. There are some remedies which seem to calm the victim. But nothing cures them.”
Kartek snapped her fingers again, and Arag drew open a curtain for the third room of the tent to reveal another female ogre laying upon a cot. Her green skin had a blue tint to it. Her orange eyes opened and closed and looked at the ceiling, not acknowledging anyone else was in the room. Kartek stood by the female ogre’s side and for only a moment a hint of softness filled her eyes. “Her name is Zorar. Help her, and I will consider listening to your petition.”
“We didn’t say we wanted anything,” Rafe said, the hint of a growl in his voice.
Kartek raised a single brow at him then stepped away from the bed and sauntered to the tent entrance. “No one would dare approach my camp unless they desperately wanted something.” She nodded back to the bed. “As I said. Help Zorar, and I’ll consider helping you.”
Rose looked back and forth between the scene at the sickbed and Cal slumped off to the side with the other two prisoners. The woman in the hat was still sleeping, but the other one kept glancing over at Rose out of the corner of her eye. Something about the pair of them struck a cord in Rose’s mind, but she couldn’t figure out what. But even more important was Cal.
“Untie him,” Rose blurted out before Kartek could get too far.
The chief turned back, and her orange eyes blazed at Rose. “I doubt you’ve helped Zorar yet, unless your magic is more powerful than you let on. It’s not time for you to lie out requests at my feet.”
“I’m not saying you need to free him yet,” Rose quickly added. Freeing Cal was her request, but she couldn’t let him stay tied up there. Surely there was something else they could use the ogres help with. “And it’s not my only request. I just need him to move about in the tent and camp to assist me.”
Kartek let out of a single chuckle. “Are you so weak a woman you need two men to assist you?” She looked Rafe up and down and then at Cal. “Or maybe you’re so fabulous, the two of them can’t help themselves and bow to your every whim.”
Rose bristled at the comment and shook her head. “I’m neither. I’m just trying to do the right thing and assist Zorar the best I can.”
The ogress considered this for a moment. “I doubt that. But very well.” With a single nod of her head, the other two ogres returned and cut Cal’s bonds free. The dark-haired woman didn’t bother to look their way in hopes they’d free her too, and a pang of guilt hit Rose.
She’d learn about them too, and maybe they all could escape.
“But I’m doubling the guards around the tent,” Kartek said. With that, she walked away, leaving them in peace. In moments, the stomping of ogre feet surrounded the tent, and Rose could see guards’ shadows all around them.
Rafe turned to her and shook his head. “I can’t tell if you’re incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. What else do we need from them?”
“I’ll tell you later,” Rose said. She didn’t want to say anything in front of these other prisoners until she knew if they were trustworthy. “Help me get over to Cal.”
Rafe went over to her side and let her sling her arm over his shoulder and he helped her limp over to where Cal sat. She knelt next to him and brushed his muddy hair off to the side so she could see his face better.
“Is he your lover?”
It surprised Rose to hear the soft voice of one of the other prisoners. Despite being tied up in an ogre camp, the dark-haired woman’s voice was soothing and melodious. Rose looked over her shoulder and saw her bright eyes looking at them with an intense curiosity, like she could see something Rose couldn’t.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but no… it’s complicated,” Rose answered, not sure why she gave the woman even that amount of information.
A small smile played at the corners of the woman’s mouth. “Usually, it is. Then again, usually it isn’t either. We just like to use that word as an excuse to avoid how things truly are.”
Rose pressed her lips together in a tight line and ignored her statement. Whatever the status of the relationships between her and Cal was, it wasn’t any of this woman’s business. Rose eyed her, then pulled a cloth out of her sack to wipe the dirt and grime off Cal’s face. He murmured something wordlessly and rocked his head back and forth. At least he was conscious.
“And is she your lover?” Rafe asked the woman. He gestured to the other prisoner sleeping off to the side.
The woman smiled even wider now. “She wishes. But I don’t take lovers. Romantic relationships never appealed to me much. But she is my best friend.” She leaned over and nudged her companion’s shoulder. She whispered something into her ear and the other woman stirred.
With an enormous yawn, the other woman rolled her shoulders and pushed herself up into a seated position. She straightened her hat and pushed her long blonde hair aside. Her blue eyes brightened at the sight of Rose, Rafe, and Cal. “Well, well, well, Ai, looks like we have a party.”
Chapter Nineteen
ROSE
Ai rolled her eyes, but there was a fond amusement in them. “We can’t have much of a party tied up here.”
The other prisoner gave her a sly smile and wiggled her shoulders. “Depends on what sort of party you want if you ask me. I have fond memories of being tied up.” She winked at Rose.
Rose raised her brows and searched for some ointment from her sack to tend to Cal’s wounds. Things had gotten a little rearranged during their fight with the ogres. “Sorry, I’m not interested in women.”
In what she could only describe as a pout, the prisoner stuck out her bottom lip and sighed. “Ah well, your loss.”
“Finley is interested in anything and anyone who’ll give her the time of day,” Ai told them.
The other prisoner, Finley, tossed her hair to the side as though she were a lady in a palace showing off for a suitor instead of a prisoner in an ogre camp. “And who wouldn’t?”
Rafe walked around the tent, inspecting the pieces of furniture and objects lying around like he was bored and looking or something to do. “And she’s so humble too,” he muttered.
Finley shot him a glare from underneath the rim of her hat. “No need to be rude.”
“Ignore him,” Rose told her. “We usually do.”
“Unless you need saving,” Rafe said over his shoulder.
“I still think you’d make an excellent cloak!”
Cal groaned from where he slumped over, and his head moved back and forth. Hope fluttered in Rose’s chest that he might be awake and paused her search. His blue eyes batted open and were glossy as he glanced around the room. They then focused on Rose and a new clarity and softness came to them. “Where are we?”
He pushed himself up and groaned, so Rose put a hand behind his back to assist. “We’re in the ogre camp. They knocked you out and took you back here, so I came after you.”
“Rose, you came after me? And you got in without them harming you?” he asked, an air of amazement in his voice.
“Don’t get too excited, Cal, we’re trapped and there’s something I have to do.”
As they talked, Rose couldn’t help but notice Finley looking back and forth between the two of them. She tried to ignore it, but she wasn’t particularly keen on these other prisoners spying on her reunion with Cal.
Finley’s blue eyes grew so large it looked like the entire ocean lay in them. “Rose and Cal.” She squealed and clapped her hands. “You know Myra!”
Rose and Cal’s heads turned in unison to look at Finley and Ai, who both wore large and excited smiles.
“And how do you know Myra?” Rose asked.
Cal rubbed his head a bit like he was trying to get his bearings. “Are you two the pirates she told me about?”
Finley squealed again and moved to sit next to him, only to be stopped by the rope tying her to the floor of the tent. She tugged and pulled at it, but it was no use. Shrugging off the minor disappointment, she crossed her legs in front of her, still smiling. “She told you about us! I mean, who wouldn’t? We’re fabulous. But have you heard from Myra? How are she and her smoldering prince?”
Cal chuckled and continued to rub the back of his head. “They’re fine, the last I heard. It’s been a while since I last could write to her.”
“Hold on, who are you? How do you know Myra, and… you’re pirates?” Rose asked. She handed Cal a container of ointment, and he took it so he could rub it on his aching head. Cal had told her bits and pieces about what Myra had been up to Oxare, and the phrase “pirate queen” sounded familiar.
Meanwhile, the three of them filled Rose in on how Ai and Finley met Myra in the Golden Palace in Oxare. Ai was posing as a contestant to win the hand of Prince Alvis, and Finley as her servant. They befriended Myra, Cal’s adopted sister, who was also working as a servant in the palace. Oddly enough, Myra fell in love with Alvis, and the two of them helped her. Apparently, the purpose of Finley and Ai being at the pageant was to steal Amelia’s mirror and help set her free as Finley was Amelia’s cousin. Estranged cousin, though, since they had the mirror but didn’t know where Amelia was and didn’t care. All they’d wanted was the mirror. They hated Amelia almost as much as Rose did but didn’t have the same drive to be rid of her. As long as Amelia stayed out of their way and they could sail the high seas, the pair were happy.
“So, how did you end up here?” Rose asked after their story was complete. “Why aren’t you with your crew on The Mystic?”
“Because we knew we were being followed. The Oxarian guard is after us. What do you think?” Finley groaned and shifted her position as she answered, but the ropes prevented her from moving much. She pulled and shook at them with an animalistic growl and threw them back on the floor. She shifted again and stretched her legs out. “We escaped from the prison and got back to The Mystic and could sail north. But, by the time we got to the Marali and Cresin border right there, where it gets closer to the Dravian Islands, they ambushed us.”
For the first time since she’d woken up, the light in Finley’s eyes dimmed. She wore the same self-assured expression with eyebrows high and shoulders square, but Rose could see something haunted the pirate queen. A tiny part of Rose pitied her.
Ai patted Finley on the shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “We have ways of making The Mystic disappear, or at least appear to. But all sides attacked us from the kingdoms surrounding us.”
“It’s too close to too many borders, but I thought we’d be able to risk it,” Finley murmured.
“We could escape, but they got the rest of our crew and the ship. We wanted to go back and save them, but we got word that the crew were safe and to continue on our journey. Finley here wanted to ignore it and go back anyway, but I made her see reason. So we went on. Only this time, on land. Thankfully, we were at the edge of Eral Forest where it’s easier to get lost and we could lose the soldiers who were after us. We thought we were in the clear.”
